Ian Higginson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

If there is one clear sign that the NHS is not working, it is the state of its accident and emergency departments. Across the UK, under all sorts of different political regimes, the story is the same. Patients spend many hours even days, many waiting for a bed and incontrovertible evidence that thousands of lives are being lost as a result. In their latest podcast Niall and Roy hear from Ian Higginson President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine who voices his anger and frustration as a system that is failing patients and staff. But he argues strongly that this Gordian Knot will not be untangled by discouraging patients from turning up at A and E but by dealing with the ‘back door of the hospital. And on that, he clearly believes that while there is more that hospitals themselves can do to improve discharge procedures, more attention and resources need to be directed at social care and community health services. As for the former Secretary of State in England, he is determined to make sure that Wes Streeting’s commitment is not forgotten